Page 22 - ESS July 2023

2023 FIG Working Week:

A Young Professional’s Perspective

By Ashley Metz

The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), founded people from diverse backgrounds, it was an amazing experience.
in 1878, represents the professional fields within the global This allowed me to get a better understanding of the challenges
surveying, geomatics, geodesy, and geo-information community that surveyors face around the world. I was under the impression
within 120 countries. This May, FIG held the conference in the that the challenges we faced here in the U.S. were different from
United States for the first time in over 20 years. The annual those in other countries. This assumption was incorrect, but it
general assembly took place in Orlando, Florida hosted by FIG was interesting to learn that many of our challenges are similar
and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). to what is experienced across the world. I now have a better
The purpose of the annual meeting is to bring together the understanding of the issues that our profession faces on a global
international surveying community to attend technical sessions scale, after networking with the global community, and discussing
and workshops similar to our NY annual conference. I was the various challenges. I also have more resources to fall back on
given the opportunity to attend this event and I am excited to after hearing how others across the world deal with some of the
share some of what I took away from the experience. same challenges we struggle with. One of the best things about
Young Professional organizations are starting to become a part the FIG conference is the cross borders discussions that take place
of almost all land surveying associations. FIG is no different, which allow us to learn from each other, meet new friends, and
in 2009 the Young Professional group was officially made a share resources to reach out to use in the future if needed. As
part of the overall organization and its goal is to bring together professionals, we have a responsibility to share our knowledge
young surveyors from across the globe. The Young Surveyors and the methods that we have gained to solve surveying problems
Network has its own annual conference. This year it was with other surveyors at state, national and global levels.
held the weekend before the main conference started and the This is not a call to action, simply my own enthusiasm having
theme was “Moving Beyond Boundaries.” Throughout the experienced the open communication between surveyors
two days that the conference took place, attendees were given across the world. There is value in sharing our ideas regarding
opportunities to meet and interact with other participants. similar issues that other state associations are addressing. For
The presentations focused on the technology that surveyors example, I spoke with the Florida Surveying and Mapping
use and highlighted the advantages of staying up to date Society, they are working to establish a Young Professionals
with innovative technologies. There were presentations from
young surveyors from other countries that highlighted what
their organizations were doing to bring young professionals
together in their countries. Growing the profession and
drawing awareness to younger grade school students was also
discussed, and a presentation made by Get Kids into Surveying
was made. Within our group, there were ten ambassadors
from around the world who are currently working to get into
schools to teach students about land surveying. Networking
during this smaller pre-conference with people my own age
allowed me to gain confidence and made it easier for me to
reach out and connect with other professionals during the
larger FIG conference that followed.
I believe that making connections with other surveyors within
the United States, and globally, is the biggest takeaway that I Group of Young Professionals attending 2023 FIG Working Week
gained from this conference. I met and networked with so many Photo Credit: Katherine O’Buckley

20 EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 59 • NO 4 / 2023 • JULY/AUGUST